Posted on 09/20/2007 8:56:59 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
WASHINGTON - Once her son is off to school, Laura Mansfield settles in at her dining room table with her laptop and begins trolling Arabic-language message boards and chat rooms popular with jihadists.
Fluent in Arabic, the self-employed terror analyst often hacks into the sites, translates the material, puts it together and sends her analysis via a subscription service to intelligence agencies, law enforcement and academics.
Occasionally she comes across a gem, such as when she found a recent Osama bin Laden video before al-Qaida had announced it.
"I realized, oh my gosh, I'm sitting here, I'm a fat 50-year-old mom and I've managed to scoop al-Qaida," said Mansfield, who uses that name as a pseudonym because she receives death threats.
She sometimes spends 100 hours a week online, and she often finds items after word has begun spreading on the Arabic forums of an imminent release.
"It's really important to understand what the jihadists think and how they're planning on doing things," she said. "They're very vocal. They tell us what they're going to do and then they go out and do it."
Mansfield tips off her intelligence sources when she does find something new, part of an informal working relationship with the government.
"When I send them something, it's welcome," she said. "They thank me."
There have been times when an impending video release has kept her from a planned shopping trip with her daughter.
"It gets really challenging when you're trying to do that and cook spaghetti at the same time," she said.
O’Noes,,,Yer One Short !!!...;0)
LOL;0)
Earl Jr. ain’t old enough to drink yet (lol) :)
*shaking head*
You are vey bad. : )
That video associated with the article discloses her appearance and the sound of her voice (neither is "ethnic" in the least, by the way).
She's written a 320-page book about her marriage to a Muslim:
She also gives speeches at terrorism conferences.Inshallah: My Journey Into the World of Islam, and My Escape
Book Description
The story of how a young American woman from the deep south finds herself married to a Muslim radical extremist. That young woman was Laura Mansfield. Laura provides a view of Islamic extremism that can only been seen from the inside. Laura's escape (with her children) from radical Islam, her battle to keep her daughters safe, and how she became a leading terror analyst make this a book you won't want to put down.See also: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1551148/posts
“from the deep south”
That stinks of something.......Why don’t they ever talk about the shallow south? (lol)
odd, I remember seeing this same type of story the last time OBL issued something.
Earl Jr. aint old enough to drink yet (lol) :)
~~~~~~~~~~~
LOL,,,Sometimes ya’ have to “bottle-feed”...LOL;0)
JMHO : Folks that hack other folks puters outta’have an
A-Bomb dropped on their ass !!...Or,,,
CWC’ed...Cyber Bombed !!...;0)
“I wonder often what is the best fast-track to learning Arabic.” They say becoming a slave for a while works. You have to understand them, so you learn quickly.
Harley Rubes Off !!...LOL;0)
Wow...Laura is awesome...God bless her...Just hope she is well protected and well paid by the govt..
Great posts here..Thanks to the good people here...
I saw a horse take a 12oz can of Busch beer once. He seemed to like it, and in under 10 seconds (lol)
Ick. Troll convention.
We truely do live in a ‘fast-track’ way of thinking world these days don’t we. Sometimes, the fast track is the one that leads off the cliff. People like to rush, rush, rush.
I like your example by the way :)
That stinks of something.......Why dont they ever talk about the shallow south?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cause they ain’t been stuck in the mud here...;0)
“Cause they aint been stuck in the mud here...;0)”
LOL...yep, get yer self stuck in some gumbo mud, and then come tell me your story (lolol)
dance till the rhythm it gets harder
What exactly are you babbling on about?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.